A bid for Freedom
by Prustan
Summary: A dark miniseries, though I plan to have a happy end. Set after the failed wedding, expect OOC. Ranma/Kasumi match. *Muse gone, up for adoption.*
1. Escape

A bid for freedom

Prologue

The young woman stood quietly in the kitchen, dressed as usual in a housedress and apron, preparing breakfast for her family. In her mind however, she was alternating between cursing the fat pervert who had enslaved her to his will, and rejoicing that today she would be free of him. All that was needed was to wait for the right moment, never letting him know that the cursed potion had worn off early.

"Breakfast!" she called, as she set the table with her fake smile in place. Her family all rushed to the table, eager to partake of her excellent food. Her father, the Coward, never seeing what was wrong. Her younger sisters, one obsessed with money and never seeing the damage she caused to herself or those around her, and the other almost constantly angry about something. Her Warrior, looking at her with worry in his eyes, an unknowing victim himself. And finally, her tormentor, not caring about anything but his own comforts. The Pervert was away on some trip. By the time he returned, her Warrior would be ready to stop him.

'Patience,' she thought to herself, 'you have only one chance at this. Then you can make him pay for what he has done to everyone.'

All too soon, breakfast was finished, her sisters almost dragging her Warrior out the door to get to school. 'Five minutes. Just need to keep up the act for five more minutes, then the plan begins.'

The phone rings, and she smiles. 'It begins.'

"Hello?"

"Mr. Sato, I'm glad you called. Father was most upset that your last bottle of sake was not up to your usual quality."

"You will? Thank you very much. I'll tell them right away. Have a good day."

Another, much more genuine smile as she hangs up the phone. "Father, Mr. Saotome? That was Mr. Sato on the phone. He wishes to apologise for the poor quality sake that you were served last night, and has asked that you visit him now for a free bottle."

The Coward and her tormentor stop their game of shogi immediately, say a quick goodbye, and leave at top speed for their favourite bar.

She breathes a sigh of relief, and walks into the kitchen to retrieve a vial of that cursed potion. Her Warrior will need to give it to either Doctor Tofu or that nice Amazon Elder, so that they will be able to help.

A small attack of dizziness hits her, and she realises that her tormentor was not lying – too long without the potion would be bad, if not fatal. 'Time to find my Warrior, to let him set me free so that I can set him free also.'

She hurriedly closes up the house, and sets off running to Furinkan High School. Hopefully he hasn't gone inside yet.

Reaching the gates, breathing heavily, she searches frantically for him.

"RANMA!" she calls. Little black spots are appearing in her vision. She won't be able to stay awake much longer, and she has so much to tell him.

"RANMA!" she calls again. And there he is. Her Warrior. She hears him call her name, concern for her plain for all to hear.

She collapses into his arms. Everything is fading, but she must tell him. As she presses the vial into his hand, she says "Help me Ranma… Your father… cursed potion."

As blackness claims her, she hears him still calling her name "Kasumi!"

A/N This is my first 'published' work, and is the prologue for a dark miniseries, involving the last idea (as of 28/11/2008) on my profile. Before the Kasumi fans start calling for my head, be aware that I rather like Kasumi myself, this idea just wouldn't leave me alone until I'd typed at least this much.

Be aware, this is not and will never be a lemon. Very evil things have happened to both Ranma and Kasumi 'off camera', and now a few things need to be decided. To decide: is the potion curable? And who supplied it to Genma?

The potion is an Enslavement potion that makes the person it is fed to totally dependant on it – too long without a dose and the person dies. Also they are enslaved by the person who fed them the last dose, not the first. I have a few ideas for other effects. This is why it's an M rated fic.

Oh, if anyone thinks they can do a better job with this, or wants to take over, send a message to let me know. If I think you can, then I'll send you the other ideas I have for it. Same with any of my other ideas.


	2. Help recieved

A bid for Freedom

Chapter 1

Ranma Saotome, in his usual red Chinese shirt, black pants and shoes, was scared. Of course, he'd never admit that, or let anything more than mild concern show on his face, but he was convinced that something really bad was going to happen very soon.

As he continued walking to Furinkan High School, beside his reluctant fiancée for once, he sighed and said "It's really going to hit the fan today."

Akane Tendo, recognising the look on his face, asked "What do you mean Ranma? It's a lovely day, and nothing's happening."

"Akane, that's exactly my point. How often does nothing happen in my life?"

"Hardly ever. So what? You think you're not going to get a day off from the chaos every now and then?"

"Akane, you don't seem to get it. The only time things start to go right in my life is right before something goes horribly wrong. The last time I had a day even half this good, Saffron showed up. The time before that, it was Herb. Today has been perfect so far, which means that something worse then Saffron is going to happen."

"You really think it's that bad?"

Ranma stopped walking, and started listing off the things that would normally happen, but didn't. "Well, let's see. Last night, I got the best night's sleep ever. Got to bed at a decent hour and wasn't woken up during the night. This morning, I was not woken up by the panda, had not been turned into a girl, and didn't have Pop or Mr. Tendo hinting about marrying you. Nabiki didn't scam any money out of me, and we haven't had an argument, or anything which would cause you to mallet me. Kasumi gave me a genuine smile, instead of the fake ones that she normally does, and I haven't been challenged by anyone. Happosai's away on a trip, Ryoga and P-chan haven't shown up, Mousse hasn't tried killing me, and Kuno hasn't popped up spouting his usual crap. Shampoo hasn't glomped me, Kodachi's not around, and Ukyo has been keeping her distance since that failed wedding. Hell, even the ladle lady missed me today, and she's nailed me with that ladle _every day_ for the two years I've been here. Yes Akane, I really think it's that bad. In fact, it's probably worse."

Akane blanched. "I really hope you're wrong Ranma."

"So do I Akane. So do I."

Feeling slightly depressed, and more then a little paranoid, they resume the trip to school.

As they reach the gates, the other students notice the heavy tension surrounding them, and decide it would be far safer to give the most talked about couple at school lots of space.

Feeling more depressed, Ranma and Akane are just reaching their seats, when they hear a shout from outside "RANMA!"

'That sounded like Kasumi!' Ranma thought as he jumped from his classroom window. 'She sounds really scared, and tired too. Something's really wrong, like I thought earlier.'

He hears her shout for him again, and calls back "Kasumi!", just before he catches sight of her leaning against one of the gates for support, breathing hard. 'She's about to fall over! Catch her now!' he frantically thinks to himself, as he sends a burst of ki into his legs to almost teleport to her side.

Even through his worry, he sees a look of relief pass over Kasumi's face as she collapses into his arms. He feels her press something into one of his hands, and hears as she strains to say "Help me Ranma… Your father… cursed potion…" before she passes out.

"Kasumi! Kasumi! Hang on Kasumi, I'll help you."

Putting the object into a pocket of subspace, he shifts Kasumi to make it easier to carry her, and defend her if needed, then glances back at the school. "Akane! Don't tell our fathers what happened! They'll make it worse!" he yells out before quickly considering where to go.

'Only two possibilities, Doc. Tofu and the Old Ghoul. Doc. Tofu's no good. He freaks out around Kasumi so much he'd be useless, plus we're dealing with some kind of potion. Hmm, Old Ghoul it is. Hope she won't ask for much for her help.' Decision made, he sets off running for the Nekohanten.

As he runs, he keeps looking at Kasumi with worry. He can see that something is horribly wrong with her ki, and knows that she doesn't have much time left. He sees the Nekohanten's sign, let's out a little sigh of relief, then starts yelling "ELDER KHU LON! HELP!"

As he gets closer, he sees Mousse open the door in confusion, and boots him out of the way without slowing, twisting his body to ensure Kasumi doesn't hit the doorway. "Elder Khu Lon! Something's wrong with Kasumi!"

Cologne's eyes widen in her wizened face, and she merely says "Follow me Ranma. I'll examine her in the back. Did she say anything before she collapsed?" as she starts pogoing to her own room.

Laying Kasumi on the bed and retrieving the object, Ranma said "She gave me this, asked for help, and said something about my father and a cursed potion. Any idea what it is?"

Seeing the vial, filled with an evil-looking red liquid streaked with black, Cologne blanches and her eyes widen in shock. "No. It can't be. He swore that it was all destroyed, and that all copies of the recipe were disposed of." She calms herself, and says "Ranma, I think I know what's wrong with Kasumi, though I pray that I am wrong. Stay here a moment, I must make sure."

She pogos out to one of the other rooms, where Ranma hears her rummaging around for a few seconds, before she returns with an olive leaf. "I'm very glad I kept one of these around. It'd be almost impossible to get one in time here in Japan. Now Ranma, one of two things will happen when I brush this leaf over her tongue. Either nothing, or she'll start shivering. If she shivers, _you must _make her drink that potion in your hand. Fail, and she'll die. Are you ready?"

Ranma nods, and removes the stopper. Cologne gently opens Kasumi's mouth and brushes the leaf over her tongue. The effect is immediate, and she starts shivering. As Ranma ensures that Kasumi drinks the potion, Cologne looks angrier, and angrier, until she yells "A thousand curses upon that thrice-damned fat fool Genma Saotome!"

Ranma is about to ask what was wrong when Kasumi's eyes start blinking, and she wakes up. "Master Ranma! My Warrior! I knew that you'd help me!" she exclaims as she glomps a stunned Ranma with skill and enthusiasm to rival Shampoo. She then stops for a moment, and says "Hang on a moment. Since you're my Master, that means I'm not cured, but, I don't care. I can be with you."

Cologne, still looking rather angry, interrupts. "Kasumi, please wait a moment while I get the others and explain some things to you two." She pogos to the door and calls "Shampoo! Mousse! Close the shop and come here. We have to talk."

Ranma becomes more and more uncomfortable while they wait for the young Amazons, since Kasumi kept hugging him, blushing and giggling without warning, and it was really beginning to creep him out. Finally, they arrive. Shampoo's eyes narrow when she sees Kasumi, but she says nothing. Mousse also says nothing, but that was due to the ever present threat of Cologne whacking him with her staff.

Cologne waits for them to sit, before she speaks. "Shampoo, Mousse. Kasumi has been afflicted by the Enslavement Poison, and Ranma has been chosen as a trustworthy male. Do you understand what this means?" Mousse stares in shock, unsure of what to say, or whether to rejoice for his chance of wooing Shampoo or lament for the pain that this would cause her, while Shampoo bursts into tears. In between her sobs, she manages to say "It mean Ranma no longer Airen."

Cologne nods, allowing her great-grandaughter to grieve without censuring her for showing weakness in front of outsiders. "Correct. Ranma is no longer under the Kiss of Marriage. Ranma, I am going to tell you what you must do to allow Kasumi to live as long as she can, then I'll explain why. You must marry her within two days, and bed her at least once every day until she becomes pregnant. You must secure a supply of that vile liquid, and ensure that she has one dose every day. You will need to adjust the dosage depending on how quickly she builds her tolerance. And finally, for his crimes, Genma Saotome must die."

A/N Well, here's the first chapter. Faster then I thought it would be, though it doesn't feel as good as the prologue.

Can anyone guess who Cologne was talking about? The man who swore to her that the poison was gone?

Oh, and since I keep having more ideas pop up, it looks like this will end up being a fair bit longer then I intended. I will leave the ending open for further adventures though, just in case.

Here's a teaser from the next chapter

Ranma blasted forward, taking Genma by surprise and hitting a particular series of pressure points to paralyze him. "Genma Saotome," he snarled "For your crimes against me and the Tendo family, you are going to die."


	3. Enslavement Poison explained

A bid for Freedom Chapter 2

"WHAT?!" screamed Ranma, as Cologne's words sunk in.

"Calm down Ranma." said Cologne "What I'm going to tell you is difficult enough, and I don't want you running off in a rage before you know everything. Besides, if you don't get under control, you'll hurt Kasumi."

The thought that he might hurt Kasumi, even by accident, is enough for his formidable will to regain control. Recognising the seriousness of the situation, he looks at Kasumi and says "Sorry Kasumi, but could you move away a little. I think I'm going to need the Soul of Ice for this, and don't want to accidentally hurt you." She nods and moves away, looking a little sad, as an aura of cold starts forming around Ranma. He looks back at Cologne and informs her that he is ready. Shampoo has also stopped crying by this time, and looks attentively at her great-grandmother.

Cologne nods, and begins. "The Enslavement Poison is the vilest concoction that the Amazons know of. It was originally created by Happosai, so that he would be able to get himself a large group of women to serve his every whim. But it didn't work quite as he intended. At first, he thought it worked great. The women he'd dosed happily allowed him to grope them, dress them 'up' in different outfits and do whatever he wanted, so he thought the potion was a success and gave it to any like-minded people he happened across. Then they started dying. Nothing he did was working, so he came to us to beg for help. Lecher that he is, the thought of causing actual pain to a woman is abhorrent to him, and he was desperate. We failed also, only managing to prolong their lives."

She sighs, and takes a moment before continuing. "So far as we could determine, it only affects women that have been given the dose by a man, and makes her a slave of the last man to dose her. What makes it so vile is that unless a victim has an olive leaf brushed over her tongue within the first 24 hours, she becomes physically addicted to it – she'll die if she goes too long without a dose. The problem is that it's quite toxic, and she'll die if too much builds up in her body. What's worse is that her body starts building a tolerance to it, which shortens her life considerably, with the only ways to stop or slow the tolerance being sex and pregnancy."

Ranma, realising exactly what that meant, loses control of the Soul of Ice and blanches in shock shortly before passing out. Shampoo, Mousse, Kasumi and Cologne all look at him in surprise, before Cologne asks Shampoo to get a glass of cold and a glass of hot water. A grin appears on her face as she runs to the kitchen, returning with the water. Cologne nods at her questioning gaze, and she tips the water over Ranma's head, triggering the curse and waking him (now her) up.

"What'd you do that for?!" she yelled.

"Sorry Ranma," said Cologne, "but we need you awake and I'm not finished." She indicates the other cup that Shampoo is holding, and she turns back into a he. "You'll probably need a tighter grip on the Soul of Ice for this though."

Ranma nods, and a more powerful aura of cold forms, cooling the room considerably.

Cologne continues her explanation. "Before you ask, the longest a victim has survived with just the poison is about one month. This is lengthened to somewhere between six months and a year if she is bedded everyday without becoming pregnant, and the longest a victim has ever survived is about eight years. She was the proud mother of four girls, who all grew into fine Amazon warriors. We _think_ that a victim will live longer if she has feelings for the male who keeps her alive, but we're not sure. Now, Happosai was only too happy to tell us the names of everyone he'd given recipes to, he even swore under our most powerful oaths that he had told us everything he knew about them, and we tried our best to wipe out any knowledge of the Poison outside the tribe, but it was too late. We had to settle for creating the Enslavement Poison Laws. When an Amazon finds a victim of the Enslavement Poison, she is to have the most trustworthy male she can find dose the victim, then discover the identity of the enslaver, and ensure that he dies a most painful death. The victim and chosen male are then to be offered any help that the tribe can give them."

Ranma sits in silence as Cologne finishes, trying to take in everything that he has been told. He also has the feeling that what Kasumi wanted to tell him will be much more serious. His eyes light up in determination as he makes a decision, a decision he knows he should have made a long time ago. "K-Kasumi, I l-love you. I have for quite a while now, but I've been too afraid for your safety to do anything about it. Today, that changes. I will not allow anyone to hurt you again, and I will make you as happy as I can." Without consciously thinking about it, he pulls a small box out of his subspace pocket, gets down on one knee in front of Kasumi, and opens it, revealing a diamond, surrounded by sapphires and set in a gold ring perfectly sized for Kasumi. "Kasumi Tendo, will you marry me?"

Watched by a shocked Shampoo, Mousse and Cologne, Kasumi takes the ring and puts it on, before letting out a squeal of delight, tackling a shocked Ranma to the floor and kissing him soundly. Giving him a second to recover, she says "In a heartbeat Ranma, even without the potion. About a month after your arrival I was calling myself all kinds of baka for pushing you off onto Akane. But I couldn't bring myself to betray my sister and steal her fiancé, then all the others started turning up, and I got scared. Now, I know you'll protect me and make me the happiest woman in the world."

"Wow." Was all Ranma could say as he tried to recover from his new fiancée's kiss. He remembers something she said before her collapse, and gently pushes her away until he's holding her at arm's length. "Wait a minute. Kasumi, what exactly did Pop do to you, and why?"

Kasumi's face falls, and she returns to her seat. "Ranma, use the Soul of Ice again. You're going to want Genma to die, painfully, when I tell you, and I really don't want to say this more than once." Kasumi says, in a bleak voice. Ranma looks concerned, but nods and the aura of cold forms again.

Kasumi started speaking, unable to look at anyone in the room "About a month and a half ago, Genma started drugging you, and selling your girl side off to Kuno. I don't know what the delusional pervert did while he had you, but I'm sure you can guess. When I found out two weeks later, I tried to warn you. Unfortunately, Akane, Nabiki and Father were out, and he took you by surprise before preparing you for another night with Kuno. Then he gave me that poison, and used me as his toy until today. The bastard even got Father really drunk a couple of times, ensured I couldn't say anything and led him into my room. And everytime Nabiki found out, he somehow knew she knew and wiped her memory before she could do anything. The only reason I got away is because he miscalculated how long a dose lasted, which allowed me to plan and get to you." As she finished, tears running down her face, she felt a pair of arms slip hesitantly around her, enfolding her in a hug, and looks at Ranma's comforting face, even as she felt the heat radiating from the immense rage auras of Cologne, Mousse, and Shampoo.

Ranma murmurs soothing words into Kasumi's ear while gently rubbing her back, encouraging her to draw on his strength. He catches the eyes of the Amazons and mouths 'Do nothing. Genma is mine.' to them. They look unhappy about it, but nod.

Several minutes later, Kasumi has cried out her helplessness and shame, and just relaxes into Ranma's arms. Ranma stays hugging Kasumi for a little while longer, both of them enjoying the sensations, before he remembers where they are. "Elder Khu Lon, Mu Tsu, Xian Pu, thank you for your help. It is time to call a meeting of the Tendo and Saotome families, and begin to make Genma pay. Excuse me."

He picks up Kasumi and returns to school, looking for Akane and Nabiki and not willing to let Kasumi out of his sight. The students all see him, and want to interrogate him to find out why he's carrying Akane's sister, along with why she's clinging to him (the more observant girls are a lot more interested in the ring on her finger), but his aura of grim 'stay out of my way or else' determination stops them.

Ranma arrives at Nabiki's classroom, shifts Kasumi to free one of his hands, casually backhands Kuno into a wall and states "Nabiki. Family meeting at the dojo, now." He then leaves and searches for Akane.

Reaching his classroom, he knocks politely and waits for the cheerful, childish voice calling "Come in!" – not wanting to give Miss Hinako any excuse to drain him and Kasumi.

"Sensei, I apologise for my tardiness, but I must take Akane home now for a family meeting."

Miss Hinako looks like she wants to drain him for being a delinquent, but his formal manner and passenger penetrates0 her childish mind. "Have you got any pocky?" she chirps brightly, before bouncing up and down in excitement at the large box of chocolate pocky he pulls out of subspace. She says "Okay! Take Akane for that meeting now, but don't make a habit of it." before grabbing the pocky and starting to eat it.

Ranma, still holding Kasumi makes a small bow and waits for Akane. She starts to speak, but both Ranma and Kasumi shake their heads and silently start walking to catch up to Nabiki.

Just outside the gates, they see Nabiki walking towards the dojo. She looks rather annoyed, while Akane is fuming silently as she walks behind Ranma, watching the possessive arm he has around Kasumi and the way she keeps leaning into him.

Before Nabiki can say anything, Ranma cuts her off "Not here. We will explain when we're inside and I've ensured no-one outside the family is listening. This is too important to do less."

As they reach the gates to the Tendo compound, Ranma realises that he's still carrying Kasumi, and puts her down – slightly regretfully. He says "Genma has proven himself a danger to both our families, and I need to make sure he can't escape his just punishment. Wait here a few minutes, then enter and I will explain."

Akane looks like she was going to argue, but Kasumi puts a hand on her arm and shakes her head. It was enough.

Ranma entered the Tendo home without his normal greeting, and extended his Ki senses. 'Good. They're playing shogi as normal. This will be easy.' He releases some of the tight control he leashed his rage with, and an evil smile crosses his face. 'Time to deal with a certain panda.'

Ranma strode into the living room where the two fathers were at the shogi board as usual, and channelled some Ki into his legs, before he blasted forward, taking Genma by surprise and hitting a particular series of pressure points to paralyze him. "Genma Saotome," he snarled "For your crimes against me and the Tendo family, you are going to die."

A/N Tough decision, whether to end it here and post tonight, or write more. I think now's a good point to stop though. So, now you know the history of the Enslavement Poison, and the horrible things that Genma has done to Ranma and Kasumi. Ranma's proposal wasn't actually something I planned for at all, but I think it fit.

Anyone confused about why Ranma's using subspace pockets, think for a second. At the rate that he picks up new techniques, do you really think he wouldn't have figured out Mousse's Hidden Weapons technique by the end of the series? And as for a ring sized to fit Kasumi, once he realised his feelings for her (even if he was too scared for her safety to do anything about it), he snuck into her room while she was asleep one night and measured her ring finger, then had a ring made which he carried around in case he ever had the opportunity to act on his feelings. As for how he could afford the ring, he's the son of a master thief, and some of Akane's kidnappers have been really rich. I think along with the beatings he handed them, Ranma would have taken any expensive looking trinkets that caught his eye along the way, putting them into subspace until he can decide what to do with them.

A few lines from the next chapter:

"Ranma, take that piece of filth wearing the face of my oldest friend into the back yard."

"Gaia's Fury Revised: Magma Geyser!"

"Soul of Ice Revised: Artic Wind!"


	4. Punishment begins

A bid for Freedom Chapter 3

"Ranma! What are you doing?" cried Mr. Tendo.

"I've just called a little family meeting Mr. Tendo. Would have invited my mother too, but I'm not sure whether or not this dishonourable filth has her under some kind of enchantment."

Mr. Tendo's further questions are cut off by the noisy arrival of the Tendo sisters.

"Alright Ranma you pervert! Why were you carrying my sister all over Nerima?" yelled Akane

"Screw that Akane. I want to know where she got that ring on her finger." Snorted Nabiki

"Have you decided how to deal with **him** yet?" asked Kasumi, the venom in how she said him shocking the rest of her family.

"Not yet Kasumi. Still have to let everyone here know why he's going to die, painfully." He stops, thinking that he heard something, and sends out a Ki pulse. 'Figures.' He thought to himself, just before a questioning "Bwee?" is heard. 'Always shows up at the worst possible time. And I need to deal with the other two uninvited guests before we can start.'

"P-chan!" Akane shouts happily, as she runs over to the little black pig and picks him up. "Where have you been? I've been worried."

The sight of Ryoga using his cursed form like this, aggravating enough on a normal day, sets off Ranma's banked rage again. "Akane, give me P-chan." he states, holding out one of his hands.

"Why? So you can pick on him some more? No way."

The sight of P-chan snuggling in deeper into Akane's chest while giving Ranma a raspberry is like waving a red flag at a bull. "Akane," he says, barely controlled rage clear in his voice, "You have two choices. First, give me P-chan, and he will behave himself, right P-chan? Second, I will take him from you and start making pork chops for dinner. Choose now." Akane and P-chan look at him, see the fire in his eyes, and decide to go with option one.

As Ranma's hand closes on P-chan's bandanna, he calls out "Konatsu! Show yourself now!" The gender-confused genius kunoichi, deciding that today is not the day to irritate Ranma, simply appears in front of him and kneels. "Yes, Master Ranma?"

"Take this," Ranma hands P-chan to Konatsu "and leave. Return tomorrow night at 7 with your mistress and either P-chan or Ryoga. Do not allow them to return here before then, or I will be very upset."

Konatsu nods his understanding, stands, bows, and disappears. Ranma merely calls again "Sasuke! Get down from that tree! I need you to deliver a message."

A thud is heard outside, then a voice calls out "You can't order me around Saotome. I only obey Lord Kuno."

Ranma sighs, then uses a burst of Ki to almost teleport to Sasuke's landing point and grabs him by the neck with one hand. "Let me make this perfectly clear Sasuke. You can tell the Kunos anything you want, just make sure that they are here tomorrow night at 7, and stay away until then. If not…" Ranma charges his other fist with Ki, and holds the fiery hand in front of Sasuke's face. Sasuke nods frantically, as much as he can. Ranma drops him and says "Now get out of here."

Ranma dusts off his hands and turns back to the Tendos and paralyzed Genma. "Now, you wanted explanations, right? To start with, what I am going to tell you is to be repeated to no-one, except the Amazon trio since they were there when I found out. This is to stay a matter of the Tendo and Saotome families. Mr. Tendo, you are not to go blabbing this to the bar when you get drunk. Nabiki, you are not to go selling this information to anyone, it's far too big. Akane, you are not to write this in your diary, and you are especially not, under any circumstances, to tell any of this to P-chan. Anyone else that needs to know, will be told by me or Kasumi. Clear?"

"Why Ranma? Why do we have to keep this such a big secret?" said Nabiki.

"You'll see when I explain, especially when I tell you what that piece of trash has been doing the last month and a half. Now, Kasumi has a ring on her finger because I proposed today, and she accepted." Any further words are drowned out by a simultaneous shout of "WHAT?!" from Soun, Nabiki and Akane.

Nabiki recovers first from the shock, and asks "But Ranma, I thought you loved Akane. Why are you marrying Kasumi?"

"It's true, I did love Akane, but that love died, piece by piece. Between the pressure from Mr. Tendo and Genma, the mallets, the insults, the fights, the constant suspicion, the jealousy, not even Kasumi's willingness to sacrifice herself for her family could keep it alive. In fact, it was the talks I had with Kasumi as I tried my best to make it work that drew me to her, and that grew into love. It was only fear of what Kodachi and Shampoo would do that stopped me from admitting it. Now, crimes committed by Genma mean that I must marry Kasumi, as soon as possible."

"Crimes, Ranma? What crimes are you talking about?" cried Mr. Tendo.

"Crimes committed by Genma against every other person that lives in this house. Akane, be glad. The only crime I know he committed against you is the insane pressure to marry me. About a month and a half ago, he made a deal with Kuno which involved rape drugs and selling off my girl side. I don't know what the pervert did, hell, I don't _want_ to know what he did, and I'm going to have a 'discussion' with him when he comes tomorrow night. After about two weeks, Kasumi found out what Genma was doing to me. Unfortunately, you three were out and I had just been 'prepared' for another 'date' with Kuno. He force-fed her a rather nasty potion originally created by your master that the Amazons call the Enslavement Poison."

Mr. Tendo blanches, and he starts muttering "No. It couldn't be. He knows what that potion did. He would never do that to me." He looks directly at Ranma and asks "Was this potion an evil-looking red colour, with black streaks? Was it tested by brushing an olive leaf over Kasumi's tongue?" At Ranma's nod, he collapses in a faint, murmuring 'No. Not again.' over and over.

Kasumi quickly grabs some smelling salts and revives her father. He looks around for a second before his gaze settles on a still paralyzed Ganma, and his expression turns wrathful. "Genma, how dare you? You knew what that potion does, you knew that it took Kimiko away from me, and you USED IT ON KASUMI! Ranma, take that piece of filth wearing the face of my oldest friend into the back yard. It's time I showed you one of the special techniques of the Tendo Ryu."

Ranma grins evilly, and drags Genma by the feet into the middle of the yard, before retreating to the porch next to the Tendo family. "Ranma, you know that the Saotome Ryu is an aerial based fighting style, and the Tendo Ryu is ground based, right? What you don't know, and Akane has not proved herself worthy of learning, is that the advanced techniques of the Tendo Ryu draw upon the strength of the Earth, and we can use it for defence or offence. For example, EARTH SPIKE!"

As Mr. Tendo finishes speaking, he gathers his Ki and fires it into the ground below Genma. It rumbles for a second, before an immense spike of earth erupts from underneath Genma and fires him into the air. His landing is, luckily or unluckily, mostly away from the sharp point, so his only injuries are a spot on his back and a pierced bicep.

Ranma looks at the results and comments "While it's not especially useful for me, I can see how it could help pin down a highly mobile opponent or a mob – fire off one that sends up a whole field of little spikes, and they'll be too busy worrying about their feet to pay attention to you."

nods approvingly, before his expression clouds over again. "Ranma, you said that he had wronged everyone here. What did he do to Nabiki and me?"

"Something quite a bit worse," said Ranma "You know how someone lengthens the life of someone affected by the potion right?" Mr. Tendo scowls and nods. "Well, Nabiki found out what Genma was doing to me and Kasumi several times. Everytime she did, he somehow knew and wiped her memory of that knowledge before she could do anything. As for you, do you remember, any of the times that you were drunk, Genma bringing you to someone he called a prostitute?"

"Yes…" he said, then gasped as what Ranma was saying sunk in. "You mean that bastard brought me to…" trailing off at Ranma's nod. An immense aura burst into life around Mr. Tendo, blasting Ranma and the girls off their feet. "AAARRRGGHHH! Genma, prepare to die!" he screamed as he began building a huge ball of red, crackling Ki.

Ranma quickly regained his feet, spotted all the hot Ki that Mr. Tendo was building, and thought 'Crap! If he lets that off, he's going to set the whole neighbourhood alight. Not to mention let Genma off far too lightly. Gotta counter it, just hope I can get enough cold Ki for this.' He started building an equally large ball of white, swirling Ki.

Genma watched the building balls of death, unable to do anything, and wished that he could move, or at least empty his bowels.

"Gaia's Fury Revised: Magma Geyser!"

"Soul of Ice Revised: Artic Wind!"

The two shouts rang out together, and the two balls of Ki were released. The girls watched dumbfounded as the red ball turned the ground underneath Genma into a small volcano and began spewing lava. Then the white ball impacted and flash froze the area, sending up a great cloud of steam that obscured everyone's vision.

Mr. Tendo collapsed in a heap, having almost exhausted his Ki, while Ranma leaned against one of the support pillars and panted heavily. As the steam cleared, Mr. Tendo recovered enough to look at what had happened, and saw a char-broiled Genma, still alive and missing the back of his gi, at the top of the new hill in his back yard. He then looked at Ranma and asked "Why did you save him?"

"Three reasons. One, as cool as it was that you made a volcano, and as much as I'd love to learn the technique, that would have set alight the neighbourhood, if not the whole of Nerima. Two, Genma's life is not for you to take. Three, and most important, being melted by that volcano would have let Genma off far too lightly. He deserves much more then that. I'm having some thoughts of having Elder Cologne hit him with the Cat's Tongue and splashing him with hot water for the next month, but don't know if that's going to be painful enough."

Having recovered from the shock somewhat, Nabiki asked "What was so bad about this potion, and what do you mean it took Mother away from you?"

Mr. Tendo sighed, and said "If you'd help me back inside, I'll tell you. Truthfully, I should have told you girls some time ago, but the time never seemed right."

Once everyone except an unconscious Genma was back inside, Mr. Tendo began. "I'll make this quite brief, since it's still painful to talk about. Before you were all born, not long after I'd met the Master actually, I was in love with a wonderful woman by the name of Kimiko Yamada, and she was in love with me also. Unfortunately, one of her old boyfriends was jealous, and happened to run across an old recipe for a potion which would ensure that he'd possess her. Even more unfortunately, he didn't read the warning at the bottom which said that the victim's lifespan would be severely shortened, and made it. He got her alone, made her drink it, then had her break-up with me."

He stopped for a second to catch his breath, then continued. "I was understandably depressed, and had even thought of killing myself a couple of times but never tried it. So imagine my shock when she came running into my arms, asking for help and saying something about a cursed potion that her ex had made her drink. I took her to the Master, along with the potion in her hand, and he was livid. He told me what the potion did before running off to deal with the ex."

"He told me that it made the woman who drank it a slave of the last man to give her a dose, but that it was really toxic and would eventually kill her. He said it was also physically addictive, that she'd die if she went too long without a dose, and that the only ways to slow down the build-up of the toxin was to bed her or get her pregnant. And finally, he taught me how to make it myself so that I would be able to keep her alive as long as possible, after having me promise on my life that I, and only I, would give it to only her, and that I would destroy the rest of it upon her death."

Nabiki stood up, a look of cold rage on her face. "You mean to tell me that that bastard was raping Kasumi everyday for a month, and nobody noticed! And to heap further abuse on her Daddy, he got you drunk and took you to her room at least once! Ranma, that month under the Cat's Tongue you suggested is not enough. Make him suffer for his crimes, then wipe him from the face of the earth."

A/N Well, here's another chapter done, and sooner then I thought too. Let's see if I can keep this pace up.

Anyone who thinks that Mr. Tendo couldn't have done those two techniques, well, none of the Tendo techniques were ever shown as far as I know, and do you really think that Genma was the only one of the two to create his own techniques? After all, Soun did have about six years apart from Genma before his wife died and sent him into sorrow. Plus, the techniques Genma created – the Senkens – did fit the theme of an aerial based style, so I figured that Soun would have been working on his own ground based techniques before his collapse.

A short teaser from the next chapter:

"I would like to introduce my wife, Kasumi Saotome."

A couple of reviewer responses:

**t-dugong:** Interesting ideas, but not quite right. Thanks for the review though.

**Requiem:** Truthfully, with the sort of stuff the Amazons find and use, do you think that such a potion couldn't exist? I mean they've used potions, powders and pressure points to try and get Ranma with Shampoo, plus the Love Pills that Happosai stole off them, so I'd say it's possible.

As for why Ranma had pocky, I can think of three reasons off hand: In reserve to distract Miss Hinako's child form, because he liked them himself, or because he liked to share them with Kasumi when he asked for her advice.

And a question of my own for you: What made you more upset, that it was Ranma/Kasumi, or that I had them gradually fall in love before the events in the story? Personally, while I like a well done match-up with any of them, I think I'd read a Kasumi match in preference. She's the only one who has constantly treated him well, she hasn't hit, insulted, poisoned, malleted, drugged, blackmailed, or tried to kill him, but gently tries to improve him whenever she can.

**Jerry Unipeg:** Yeah, Genma is going to die, painfully, and slowly. He just got some of that pain this chapter, with much more to come.


End file.
